» THE PROPOSALS FROM the Department for Levelling Up , Housing and Communities ( DLUHC ) would remove the national classification system for construction products – BS 476 – and instead require classification to the British Standard version of the European Standard EN 13501 , with testing to EN 1634 test standards becoming the new norm .

In its consultation response , the GAI argued that there is no evidence to suggest that this change will make fire doors any safer . It will , however , have significant impacts throughout the architectural ironmongery and construction sectors .

The removal of assessments of products which can be fitted to fire doors will contribute to reduced interchangeability of fire door hardware , inevitably leading to product shortages and delays . The multi-millionpound cost of retesting thousands of products is among a number of factors that would create competitive advantages for large global

door manufacturers at the expense of specialist UK hardware businesses .

Reduced export opportunities and increased reliance on overseas products would in turn lead to a substantial loss of British jobs and expertise . Price rises as a result of these changes also introduce the risk of valueengineering and reduced specification – and therefore greater safety risk – on fire doors .

GAI chief executive Simon Forrester says :

“ We believe that in its current form , this proposal will cause immense damage to the UK ’ s world-class architectural ironmongery sector , and problems throughout the architectural and construction sectors , while failing to deliver any meaningful benefits .

“ BS 476 – or more specifically , part 22 of that standard – has successfully delivered robust safety assurances for timber fire door users for many years and is still widely recognised

as fit for purpose . Indeed , post-Grenfell , testing volumes have increased even further in response to the demand for more primary test evidence .

“ Among our members are companies that have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on this testing this year , with similar amounts budgeted for next year and beyond . One of our members has cited that its business alone has more than 600 BS 476 part 22 tests which will become redundant if the proposed changes go ahead .

“ With the cost of each typical fire test up to £ 11,000 , and current waiting times at six months or more for each test , and then another six months for the report , retesting would cause huge disruption throughout the hardware and construction sectors , and cost the industry many millions of pounds – a cost which would have to be passed on to developers and ultimately the consumer .”

The GAI ’ s consultation response concludes :

“ We do not believe that there is any evidence to suggest that moving to classification in EN 13501 will make fire doors any safer or deliver any meaningful life safety benefits … We urge the Government to retain the acceptance of classification according to BS 476 22 for timber doors in order to help retain a significant body of test data , to safeguard product availability for UK customers , and to protect vital overseas markets which have become particularly important for many UK door hardware manufacturers and suppliers , and are a great British export success story .”

Read the full GAI response to the DLUHC consultation on the removal of National Classes from Approved Document B on the GAI website at www . gai . org . uk / advocacy